Granny Pam

genealogy and more

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to Papa’s Fellows ancestors who resided in Wexford County, Michigan.

Date:

15 July 1914

Liber:

87

Page:

383

Location:

383

Grantor:

Lester E. Stone and Sarah E. Stone of Manton, MI

Grantee:

Charles E. Tinker & Belle Tinker of Manton, MI

Witnesses:

Addie Campbell, Guy W. Slack

Type of deed:

Warranty

Rec’d and recording:

15 July 1914

Clerk/registrar:

Slack

Location of land:

Colfax, Wexford, MI

Consideration:

$1,800

Notes:

Description:

N1/2 of SE1/4 of NW1/4 and NE1/4 of NW1/4 Sec 16 T23N R10W abt 60 ac

Belle and Charlie lived on this piece of of land when M-in-L was a child. This deed shows why I believe it is important to leave no STONE unturned while researching your family. If you look back at the post I wrote about Charlie Tinker, you can see that Charlie and Belle married on 15 July 1914. Interesting this deed was recorded the same day Charlie and Belle married, apparently in a judge’s chambers at the courthouse. A closer look shows that Lester and Sarah Stone were the witnesses. Oh. Although Charlie Tinker’s obituary gave an earlier year for their marriage, I am convinced that the actual date was 15 July 1914.

One little postcard shows how valuable various fragments of evidence can become. In the collection from Belle’s box, I wrote about a postcard from Mrs. Stone, which was postmarked 31 July 1914. Looks like Belle and Charlie got a dog with the house and property!

The location is marked in red from the 1914 atlas of Wexford County1 which is online on a University of Michigan site. The blue outlined property was owned at various times by people associated with Belle. The northern most property was owned by Alfred Fenton, a brother-in-law of Belle’s daughter, Edna. Edna’s mother-in-law, Susie M. Burdick Fenton Longstreet and her husband Harmon H. Longstreet owned the remaining property outlined in blue.

Standard Map Company., Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan : containing complete maps of all townships, names of property owners, maps of the county, city of Cadillac, United States and State of Michigan., Standard Map Company., Cadillac Evening News (Firm) (Cadillac, Mich.: Cadillac Evening News, c1914), page 20, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928167.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to Papa’s Fellows ancestors who resided in Wexford County, Michigan.

Date:

27 August 1913

Liber:

86

Page:

212

Location:

Wexford County, MI

Grantor:

Mrs. Belle Fellows of Cedar Creek, Wexford Co., MI

Grantee:

Herbert Doolittle of Ann Arbor, MI

Witnesses:

Charley Tinker, Isaac C. Wheeler, Notary Public

Type of deed:

Warranty

Rec’d and recording:

28 August 1913

Clerk/registrar:

Slack

Location of land:

Cedar Creek, Wexford, MI

Consideration:

$1,300

Notes:

Description:

NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 Sect 5 T23N R10W

Belle’s tenure on this property in Cedar Creek was short-lived. She purchased on 21 March 1907 and sold on 27 Aug 1913. Comparing amounts on the deeds shows that she “earned” $200 for that period. It does not seem like a lot of money, until you think of it as 18.18 % of the beginning sale price of the property. I made a calculation at my favorite site for figuring value, Measuring Worth. According to the site, $1,100 in 1907 is equivalent to the following values in 1913:

$1,159.17

using the Consumer Price Index

$1,171.18

using the GDP deflator

$1,262.96

using the value of consumer bundle

$1,144.77

using the unskilled wage

$1,138.20

using the nominal GDP per capita

$1,271.86

using the relative share of GDP

We don’t know what improvements may have been made to the property between 1907 and 1913, so we can not really tell if Belle profited from the sale, or lost money after making considerable improvement.

The property didn’t move, but apparently Belle moved on. If you want to see the location of this land, you may view the map with the description of the purchase transaction.

Lisa Alzo, the Accidental Genealogist, has posted some marvelous blogging prompts for Woman’s History Month. The March 11 prompt: Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family?

I have previously posted information about my great-grandmother, Jane “Jennie” Johnston. I wrote a biography of sorts, a post about her locket, and a post about her burial place and the record of her burial that I found. Jennie died at the age of 21 on or just before 29 January 1888. Although I have never found Jane’s death record, I am confident of her date of death. Why? I kept looking, and finally found a record of Jane’s burial in the original city cemetery logs.

The circumstances related to the many early deaths in the family of John Johnston are mind-numbing, at least for me. When you read about my great-grandmother, you read the tragic story of the orphans Jane and her brother James, traveling to Cadillac, Michigan within a few years of the death of everyone else in their family. Just a few years after the two arrived in Cadillac, Jane died, leaving a daughter only two years old. That daughter was Winnie Alice Kaiser, my grandmother.

James Johnston’s wife was Elizabeth Kaiser, a sibling of William Kaiser. James and Elizabeth’s first two children died young. One, a premature birth or still born is listed in the cemetery logs as: Johnston, James, infant of, born and died 3 August 1888. No sex is given. The Johnston’s daughter Katie, born in 1890, died in 1894. Their only child who survived was Rae E. Johnston, 1892-1978.

Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine, James Johnston experienced the deaths of his parents, his four sisters, a niece or nephew, and two of his three children. This much loss is hard for me to imagine, even more than 100 years later.

Several years ago, I got together with my cousins, James’ granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. We poured over photos, tried to figure out who they were, and I shared my research about the Johnstons. James’ granddaughter, Kay, said that Winnie Kaiser, my grandmother, spent a lot of her time with James Johnston and his wife after Jane, her mother, died. It makes sense that the young widower, William Kaiser would require help with his daughter so he could work. Families enjoyed the benefit of living in proximity, something I miss today.

Since I visited the graves of the John Johnston family in Ontario, and realized the enormity of the occurrences, I have thought about this often.

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to Papa’s Fellows ancestors who resided in Wexford County, Michigan.

Date:

21 March 1907

Liber:

63

Page:

22

Location:

Wexford County, Michigan

Grantor:

Harry Taylor & Olive Taylor, his wife of Cedar Creek, Wexford, MI

Grantee:

Mrs. Bell Fellows, widow, of Liberty, Wexford, MI

Witnesses:

Lillian Kotts, Isaac Cw. Culer

Type of deed:

Warranty

Rec’d and recording:

6 April 1907

Clerk/registrar:

Elon A Losie

Location of land:

Cedar Creek Twp, Wexford Co., MI

Consideration:

$1,100

Notes:

Description:

NE 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 5 T23N R9W 40 acres

Henry Fellows died on 19 Sept 1905. I am not sure where in Liberty Township Belle was living, but Cedar Creek Township lies just south of Liberty and the property Belle purchased is on the township line. This thumbnail illustrates the property’s location, and is taken from the old 1908 on-line atlas.1

Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Standard atlas of Wexford County, Michigan : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county…patrons directory, reference business directory…/ assisted in record work and platting by E. A. Losie. Geo. A. Ogle & Co. (Chicago, IL : Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1908), page 45, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928168.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to Papa’s Fellows ancestors who resided in Wexford County, Michigan.

Date:

26 October 1903

Liber:

54

Page:

359

Location:

Wexford County, MI

Grantor:

Henry Fellows & wife Belle Fellows of Colfax, Wexford, Michigan

Grantee:

Elizabeth McClain of the same place

Witnesses:

Wm Jones, Isaac C. Wheeler

Type of deed:

Warranty

Rec’d and recording:

30 Oct 1903

Clerk/registrar:

Henry Hanson

Location of land:

Antioch Twp, Wexford Co., MI

Consideration:

$256

Notes:

Description:

W 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 Sec 15 T23NR11 W 20 Acres

I do not know how Belle and Henry acquired this land. I obviously have some work to do at the Wexford County Court House. I am planning two genealogy trips this sprint, and one is up to Wexford County. My list is getting longer. I do see the name Jones on the deed as a witness, a surname associated with Belle’s family. Belle’s mother was Miranda Jones, daughter of Robert and Savilla. It remains to be see if William Jones of Antioch Township, Michigan was related, or the name is a coincidence.

This map is taken from the old 1908 atlas of Wexford County1. Elizabeth McClain is not listed as an owner in 1908. You can enlarge to see the detail, with the family of Geo Jones owning 40 acres which would encompass the 20 referred to in this deed.

Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Standard atlas of Wexford County, Michigan : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county…patrons directory, reference business directory…/ assisted in record work and platting by E. A. Losie. Geo. A. Ogle & Co. (Chicago, IL : Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1908), page 45, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928168.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.

Lisa Alzo, the Accidental Genealogist, has posted some marvelous blogging prompts for Woman’s History Month. For March sixth, I see: Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc).

I am lucky enough to have some nice items I inherited from my female ancestors, but today I am describing one that I do not have, and sure wish I did.

I remember a little mesh purse, with a little chain for a handle. It was a brass color, and it resided in my mother’s jewelry box. The chain that served as a handle could be put through a larger chain and worn around the neck. The cute little purse was just large enough to hold a dime, and Mom said that it was for a subway ride home. I do not have a photo of it, but it was similar to this little item, but not so fancy.

As a small town girl from northern Michigan, riding a subway seemed so romantic to me, even at my advanced age the only subway I have ridden was in London (yes England) a few years ago.

When my mother died, I looked high and low, through everything in the house, trying to find the little purse, and I never did find it. I can not help but wonder what happened to it, and also wishing I had asked when my Mom was still well. But I did not want to appear to be asking for something.

Over the past fewseveral 25 years, a mystery that has eluded me is the origin and parents of Erastus G. Fellows, who claimed Ohio birth, but for whom no document that I have found lists parents. In the course of my search, I have encountered other men named Fellows living in proximity to Erastus and his family, and have chased them (almost) to the ends of the earth. Two of those men surnamed Fellows claimed Ohio birth, and parents named Ruth Smith and Erastus Fellows (who died young). Census records for Seneca County, Ohio are promising, with minor children surnamed Fellows living in the County with other families in 1850.

In the course of the search, a researcher of one Joseph Fellows, who we believe to be the son of Erastus, and a brother of our ancestor, dug around the handy-dandy internet and forwarded me a link to the transcription of a cemetery. Scipio Township Cemetery, Seneca County, Ohio, to be exact. Papa and I visited the cemetery about eighteen months ago, checked it all out, took photos, and came away disappointed. The cemetery has been damaged since the transcription had been made. The marker that we suspected to be our ancestor’s, one “Erasts Fellows”, was not anywhere to be found. There was no marker in the location for the Smith family, either; we suspect they are connected in some way. Unfortunately, there were broken markers piled at the edge the cemetery.

All views of the cemetery are thumbnails, click to enlarge.

These photos are from east to west, looking mostly south west, and capture the entire cemetery.

I want to thank Kristina Kuhn Krumm, who generously gave permission for me to use the transcription posted on her cemetery site to help identify the photos of the graves for this post. I sorted the transcription from her site by grave number, then we walked through the cemetery to figure out how it had been read. The markers I could identify are linked. Those which I could not identify are posted as thumbnails at the end of this document. I noticed that number 23 was listed twice on the transcription, and that several numbers had no transcription listed.

Here are the markers that were standing that I could not read/identify/match up.

My number 54, taken just after the Amos and Sarah Ogden marker, looking almost due west, toward the neighboring property:

My number 55, a marker just north of that of #5 Asenath Cook, perhaps Nelson Cook #4.

My #61.

My #62.

On another trip to Ohio, we researched Fellows family records in Richland County and researched the Fellows family records at the Ohio Genealogy Society library. Although we did find information on families with the surname Fellows, even found an Erastus Fellows, the families that lived in Richland County did not appear to be our ancestors.

Complete. This requirement fit in nicely with my current push to reformat my citations recommendation by Mills, in Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifactsto Cyberspace. I reformatted 59 of those sources February 17-18. The drudgery will continue, I have a lot left to do here.
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2 – Back Up Your Data! My award: Platinum

I am still slightly confused by the wording of this requirement, BUT, I feel safe and comfortable about my backup system.

Although I feel well organized, I am not sure how an “outsider” who had never looked at my information, would view my system. I had no clue that it was hard for someone else to understand until my daughter tried to help me file. Trying to explain about filing woman’s item under their maiden name gave me a headache. I am working on an explanation which will work for the non genealogist in the family. There are a lot of them.

I have not completed the final task in this category, but will aim to do so soon.

3A – I filed 32 new items properly in their notebooks on February 17, these hard copies are not original documents and can be replaced, so they are organized by Surname, First Name and added into my huge ring-binder collection. http://xrl.in/4kab

3B – I have organized hundreds of files and added tags. It feels great to have this complete.

I look weak here, but I believe, overall in my genealogical life, I am strong. I do make every effort to help others. I am an active member of my local Genealogical Society; and belong to several others. Until you have experienced assistance from someone who happens to have access to information you cannot otherwise get, it is hard to realize how important this is. I have also participated in some cooperative research and data sharing with newly found cousins during the Games, but it is not the same as gifting someone with information. I encourage everyone to help others as much as possible; we can all with with an attitude of helping.

6G – Complete, I have used the Google follow feature for a couple of blogs. I will probably change them over to my feed reader, since what is how I prefer to follow, but I did meet this condition and will leave them as followed for the duration of the Games.
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The ten inches of snow we received slowed me down this week. I am expecting to have three VIP’s (grandchildren) visit for the weekend, so I am writing this in advance, for posting on Friday, the closing day.

I believe this exercise has proven to me that I can make progress, it is a matter of how high a priority I can assign to the tasks. I hope all the participants have benefited as much as I have during the games.

I switched to the present for task 3C in organize your research. I found hunted up all the photographs we have taken at the reunion of M-in-L’s family, and organized them in archival quality pages in notebooks, by year. I will take them to next year’s reunion and try to get the names of the unidentified (mostly children) people. A great task to have out of the way, with benefit for everyone.

In response to item 4D, I headed over to the FamilySearch.org Research Helps Page. I selected New York State, an area where I need to do much additional research. In reviewing the New York State Research Outline, I noted a link to the Family History Library Catalog for New York resources. There were also a variety of links and listings of books, internet sites, and other resources. The research outline may contain information about sources I was not familiar with, and I will be consulting these research outlines for each State when I am beginning to research here. There was also a index of indexes and sources for finding references to ancestors, arranged by time period, and pointing to Family History Library microfilm and print resources.

I believe it would be helpful to combine this reference with Cyndi’s List, which points to internet resources; and World Cat, along with your local library catalog. I also look for local and county Historical and Genealogical Societies, in the area I am researching, since they often contribute indexes and publish information.

I decided to use the rest of today to continue posting photos on Find-A-Grave, a feel good task that may assist other researchers, now or in the future.

I want to conclude this summary by saying that I am glad I decided to participate in the Games! Even though I have not done every task, I have learned from each one I did complete. There is nothing that makes life more worthwhile than learning!